


Come in, I guess

by beachtowel



Category: DCU
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 10:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11461296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beachtowel/pseuds/beachtowel
Summary: Bruce gets the chance to visit his son and his son's boyfriend new place.





	Come in, I guess

Bruce heard the bass of the music from the street. Given the fact that it was 8a.m. on a Saturday morning, he was curious as to why the none of the neighbors in the area seemed bothered.  


As he got closer to the apartment he was able to identify the song as none other than Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina.” He let a smile come and go before he knocked on the door.  


After he knocked on the door he was looking for, the music was turned down considerably from the other side. Bruce couldn’t actually hear anything else after that, but from knowing the two boys and the silhouette that was at the door, he assumed they were shuffling around, wondering what he was doing there.    


Finally, a stoic Jason dressed in old clothes and a white sweatband opened the door.

  
“Bruce.” Jason gave nothing away.  


“Good morning, Jason,” Bruce offered a smile to his son who was too much like him. “I hope I’m not intruding,” Bruce paused, expecting to be told he was. When he wasn’t, he continued. “But I was on my way to the governor's home and I figured I could stop by on the way.” He paused again, expecting to be told he couldn’t. “To see how you’ve been, and also to give you the forms you have to update for the funded programs under your name.”  


At this point, Jason let himself break the neutral eye contact he was holding with Bruce to look at the manila folder in Bruce’s hands. After a moment of consideration, Jason gave Bruce a once-over and a curt nod as he accepted the file.  


“Okay. Ah, come in if you want,” Jason said, taking a step back and opening the door. Bruce followed him in. “We weren’t expecting you, we were in the middle of cleaning.”  


Roy stood in the kitchen next to a bucket with a scrub brush in it. A red bandana held back his shoulder-length hair and he wore an old shirt of a school Bruce was sure neither of them attended. The sleeves looked like they were bitten off and it was stained with bleach. Roy leaned against the fridge as if he had been expecting him. “Bruce, fancy seeing ya here.”  


The kitchen was spotless. The kind of spotless that Bruce recognized to be expected from a long while ago, when Jason first came to him.  


He remembered being woken up by the early-riser on the rare weekends they had available to give the manor a “deep clean,” as Jason called it. And although Alfred did an excellent job on maintaining their place at its constant best, Bruce remembered that under Jason’s tedious cleaning instructions, it once took Bruce three hours to clean just the guest bedroom and bathroom.  


_“Jason, please.”  
_

_“Look at this for yourself and tell me that I’m being ridiculous,” Jason’s squeaky voice said, frustration all over his face. He held up a handi wipe that was completely covered in lint. “You said you finished the bedroom, but you didn’t even clean under the bed?”  
_

_“I swept and mopped under there! I didn’t think you wanted me to take the mattress off and wipe every single wooden panel underneath.”  
_

_Twelve year old Jason threw his hands in the air in frustration and started walking out. “What do you think a deep clean means, dad?”  
_

_Jason stopped. He didn’t mean for that to come out. Bruce had called him “son” many times before, especially when introducing him to others, but he had never called Bruce “dad” before. He didn’t think he knew how. And now that he learned he could, he wished he could swallow his words back up. Jason felt his vulnerable heart catch in his throat.  
_

_Bruce didn’t miss a beat. He sighed, “Okay, fine. I’ll mess up the bed to do it all over again. I guess I’m going to have to check the bathroom again too. I didn’t-” A loud echo of a knock on the door interrupted him. “Oh, let me go get that since we gave Alfred the day off.” As he passed his still still son, he ruffled up the boy’s hair. “C’mon, Jay, let’s see if it’s the Chinese. Turn the music down, would you?”  
_

“Good morning, Roy, how’ve you been?” Bruce said, skipping the second round of his “apologies for interrupting.”  


Roy shrugged. “I’ve been better, I’ve been worse.”

  
When Bruce realized that that was all he was being given, he tried to hold in a smile. If nothing else, he appreciated their cryptic attitude.  


“And how’s Lian been? Is she in school?”  


“It’s the summer, Bruce.”  


“Oh, right.” Bruce forgot for a moment that kids don’t have to work all days of the year.  


“She stayed the night with my sister,” Roy offered after a bit, letting his shoulders relax slightly.  


“Oh, that’s nice. Well, please let her know I stopped by, and I have been preparing for our next "double dutch” rematch.”  


Roy smirked, remembering New Years vividly. “I’ll let her know.”  


Jason joined them in the kitchen as he skimmed over the paperwork. “These guys changed their name, and these two need a budget increase. This guy wants to hire more workers and these want to buy their members better adaptive equipment.”  


“Sounds like you know what you’re doing. Can I expect you to send the paperwork back ready in a week?”  


“Or I can email them later tonight.”  


“Would that be enough time to read through them thoroughly?” Bruce couldn’t help it. He was a dad.

  
Jason squinted at Bruce’s implication of his incompetency. Bruce raised his hands up slightly in surrender. “Okay, whatever works best for you.”

  
“So. Ah, would ya like something to eat? We got some pancakes. Coffee, too,” Jason came around to Roy, opening a drawer half-heartedly.

  
“No, that’s fine. I should be going, but thank you for letting me barge in,” Bruce smiled without meaning to. “Next time I’ll be sure to call first. I just happened to notice the street we were on and was already planning on giving those to you soon. So I just printed them out and came up.”

  
This was the first time Bruce got to see Jason’s new apartment with his partner, and it went better than he anticipated. It was well-maintained. And although he had to make a distinct effort to keep his eyes away from the guns that were displayed on the far wall, Bruce loved the rest of it for Jason.  


He wished he could sit and talk to them and lecture them and praise them like other dads might do, but he understood the basic concepts of boundaries and respect. And so, he started to make his way to the door.  


“You know, the song earlier reminded me of the new Latin Club that opened up on the outskirts of West Gotham,” Bruce shared with them oh, so casually.  “‘La Rosa.’ I recommend it, if you guys ever find yourselves with a day off.”  


Roy’s face was priceless.

  
“You went clubbing,” Jason said, an eyebrow briefly spiked up in disbelief.  


“I’m older than you both, but I’m not dead, you know,” Bruce offered with a slight smile. “Hal found the place and-”

  
“Ew, Bruce. No one wants to hear about your gross sex life,” Roy interrupted with a body shudder.  


“I… I wasn’t-” Bruce found himself tripping over words.

  
A small smirk came on Jason’s mouth. “Thanks, Bruce. We’ll see if we can check it out one day. Maybe.”  


Bruce knew they never would, especially now that he had mentioned it, but that was okay. It was the attempt at cordialness that made his day. “Alright, I’ll get out of your way so you guys can continue your deep-cleaning,” Bruce said as he started making his way out the door. “Take care. And Jason, Roy, if you need anything, you boys know how to reach me.”  


“Bat signal,” Roy whispered with a thumbs up just as Jason gave a simple “Yeahup.”  


The door closed softly behind him, and the music started up again, but not loud enough that Bruce missed Jason’s exasperated “Did you give him our address?”

**Author's Note:**

> They go to the club 6 months later. It wasn't terrible.


End file.
